2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Stephen King's first novel Carrie in April 1974. Rescued from the rubbish by his wife Tabitha, the novel launched the Maine schoolteacher on a prolific and extraordinarily successful career. His name has become synonymous with horror and suspense through over fifty works, including The Dark Tower, a retelling of Byron's Childe Harold to the Dark Tower Came.Simpson traces the writer's life from his difficult childhood - his father went out to the shops and never came back - through his initial books under the pseudonym Richard Bachman to the success of Carrie, Salem's Lot and The Shining in the 1970s, and beyond. He examines how King's writing was affected by the accident that nearly killed him in 1999 and how his battles with alcohol and addiction to medication have been reflected in his stories. The guide will also take a look at the very many adaptation's of King's... Views: 66
Review"[M]ovie-worthy treatment to the guy who stole moon rocks from NASA"--_The New York Daily News_"[An] in-depth look at Thad Roberts, who along with three other NASA interns, stole pieces of lunar rock to impress his girlfriend. Mezrich has done extensive research to recreate the story of how an aspiring astronaut ended up getting caught for stealing over 100 pieces of the moon."--_The Atlantic Monthly_ "[A]n out-of-this-world heist"--_USA Today_"Mezrich has uncovered another high-stakes, fascinating true story....part love story, part madcap caper, part astro-geekery, the book is one of the summer's most fun reads."--NPR "[E]nthusiastically re-creates this oddball 2002 moon-rock heist"--Kirkus Reviews Praise for The Accidental Billionaires, the basis of the Oscar-winning film The Social Network“Uproarious . . . stimulating enough to keep even the un-medicated narcoleptic awake.”—_ Washington Times_“Mezrich’s prose has a cinematic flavor.”—_ Boston Globe_“You won’t be able to put the book down. The story’s far too compelling, and entirely too personal, to toss aside.”—_ Oregonian_“High-octane page-turners, replete with sex, skullduggery, and plot twists worthy of James Patterson.”—_New York Times_“The book is better; you should read the book.”—Alex Rodriguez “You know you’re onto something when Hollywood calls before your book is even out.”—_Entertainment Weekly_ “Sizzling . . . Mezrich’s pop narrative reveals an American public greedy to read about the most intimate details of the sex, money, and betrayal in Facebook’s formative history . . . energetic.”—_ Telegraph_ “Mezrich paints a story of backstabbing, wild sex, hard drinking, and, at one stage, feasting on roasted koala on a yacht owned by a Silicon Valley millionaire.”—_Guardian_Product DescriptionThad Roberts, a fellow in a prestigious NASA program had an idea—a romantic, albeit crazy, idea. He wanted to give his girlfriend the moon. Literally. Thad convinced his girlfriend and another female accomplice, both NASA interns, to break into an impregnable laboratory at NASA—past security checkpoints, an electronically locked door with cipher security codes, and camera-lined hallways—and help him steal the most precious objects in the world: the moon rocks. But what does one do with an item so valuable that it’s illegal even to own? And was Thad Roberts—undeniably gifted, picked for one of the most competitive scientific posts imaginable, a possible astronaut—really what he seemed? Mezrich has pored over thousands of pages of court records, FBI transcripts, and NASA documents and has interviewed most of the participants in the crime to reconstruct this Ocean’s Eleven–style heist, a madcap story of genius, love, and duplicity that reads like a Hollywood thrill ride. Views: 66
A seamstress at a swanky bridal boutique, Gabi Delgado dreams of doing more than ripping out seams and fitting dresses to doe-eyed brides. She wants to see her own dress designs gracing the young women of Texas. When Jordan Spencer, the editor of Texas Bride magazine visits the shop to do a feature, Gabi is devastated to lose her job in his very influential presence. Convinced she'll never get her dreams off the ground now, Gabi needs lots of encouragement—especially from her friend Bella Neeley—to take a chance and start her business. And as she gets to know Jordan, she discovers that she may have to take a chance on love as well. Could it be that she'll have to design her own wedding dress soon?As always, Janice Thompson delivers fun, laughter, and romance as she takes readers back to Galveston, Texas, to spend more time with their favorite quirky characters along with fabulous new ones. Views: 66
"Undeniably exquisite . . . The essays in the collection [are] meditations that reveal not only how science actually happens but also who or what propels its immutable humanity." — Maria Popova, Brain Pickings "A stimulating compendium." — Kirkus Reviews Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Deborah Blum selects the year's top science and nature writing from writers who balance research with humanity and in the process uncover riveting stories of discovery across the disciplines. Views: 66
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jon Katz's Going Home."People who love dogs often talk about a 'lifetime' dog. I'd heard the phrase a dozen times before I came to recognize its significance. Lifetime dogs are dogs we love in especially powerful, sometimes inexplicable ways."--Jon Katz In this gripping and deeply touching book, bestselling author Jon Katz tells the story of his lifetime dog, Orson: a beautiful border collie--intense, smart, crazy, and unforgettable. From the moment Katz and Orson meet, when the dog springs from his traveling crate at Newark airport and panics the baggage claim area, their relationship is deep, stormy, and loving. At two years old, Katz's new companion is a great herder of school buses, a scholar of refrigerators, but a dud at herding sheep. Everything Katz attempts-- obedience training, herding instruction, a new name, acupuncture, herb and alternative therapies--helps a little but not enough,... Views: 66
"Like a suspense novel, this book is impossible to put down. All readers interested in China, as well as memoir fans (especially of success stories), must read this astonishing title."--Library Journal (Starred Review) "In Aisling Juanjuan Shen's remarkable and assured memoir, a peasant girl born to illiterate parents and bleak prospects rises to prominence as the first person in her village to graduate college. Determined to escape the trappings of rural village life, she leaves the stability of a government-assigned teaching post behind and bravely ventures to the south in search of wealth and happiness. Shen offers a brutally honest and vivid portrait of the early days of China's economic boom, the fascinating interplay between the provinces, the lives of those who leave and those who remain behind, and the cost of abandoning tradition for the promise of prosperity."--Felicia C. Sullivan, The Sky Isn't Visible from Here "A... Views: 66
Longlisted for the 2014 National Book AwardFrom the winner of the Pulitzer Prize: a powerful, engrossing new novel--the life and times of a remarkable family over three transformative decades in America. On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different children: from Frank, the handsome, willful first born, and Joe, whose love of animals and the land sustains him, to Claire, who earns a special place in her father's heart. Each chapter in Some Luck covers a single year, beginning in 1920, as American soldiers like Walter return home from World War I, and going up through the early 1950s, with the country on the cusp of enormous social and economic change. As the Langdons branch out from Iowa to both coasts of America, the personal and the historical merge seamlessly: one moment electricity is just beginning to power the farm, and the next a son is... Views: 66
